I blogged about Jen on Friday, and here I go about Noelle. Having a busy and often absent husbnad is really forcing me to develop more friendships with women, and I guess that's a good thing.
Some of you probably saw my Facebook status about going to Ikea and offering a lift to any of my friends who wanted to go? Well, Noelle took me up on it. I picked her up at her house yesterday morning, and we had such a good time. It was wonderful to have some company on the drive to Leeds. Especially because Noelle is Canadian (almost as good as American in my book, because she also lived in Utah for a while and went to BYU). It's just so nice to hear other North American accents! Anyway, she is such a lovely person. So friendly, down to earth, plain spoken, and out-going. I especially love the plain spoken bit.
Ikea was a big success. I got a new duvet and cover for Dylan since his old one was getting too small and he kept waking up in the night when his covers came off. His old one has now moved to the crib for Edith. I also got some cute shelves for the kids' room (bit of a bargain at £2.99 each) and some storage bins from the bargain corner for just £.70. I'm always looking for more storage! We ate a delightful lunch in the Ikea cafe and wandered around for about 2 hours.
After we got done at Ikea (with some baby and icecream juggling and a last minute toilet trip) I drove Noelle down to Sheffield where her boyfriend lives and where her car was parked, and she took us to Costco. Can I just say, FANTASTIC? I got some nice bagels, a big jug of Pace salsa, some Ranch dressing, and a giant pack of diapers for much cheaper than I can get them elsewhere. It was like being home for about 45 minutes. And the kids loved all the free samples.
We dropped Noelle off at her car and then drove home--just me and the kids. I was quite proud of myself, since I don't usually do the driving on long trips away (I'm usually with Martin and he prefers to do the driving). I didn't get lost once, and I didn't get stressed out in the heavy traffic around Leeds and Sheffield, either. I felt cool, composed, and so independent. I know that sounds kind of stupid, that I felt independent. I've lived on my own before, and I used to pride myself on my independence. But I have become highly co-dependent, so that feeling of being able to do it on my own is kind of heady.
It was dinner time when we got home, and then bath and bed time. I had prepared for the night time routine before we left our house in the morning, so it was pretty easy. Then the kids were safely tucked up in bed and I collapsed on the sofa--totally exhausted, but in such a good way.
The best part of the day was how well behaved the kids were. Seriously, they were SO good. Even Dylan, running loose in Ikea. He was amazing! It's nice that we can do things that they enjoy, like going to to park, AND things that I enjoy, like shopping at Ikea, and we can all have a good time. I'm starting to feel less restricted by my children, and that can only be a good thing. And, I think that feeling will only become more frequent as the kids get older and less dependent on me.
Martin started his new job 6 weeks ago on Friday, and we are all adjusted now. It's a good thing, because it's giving us extra income, more self respect, and time apart to do our own thing.
But I still miss having so much time together!
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